Archive

Each day Jesus nourishes me with His adorable Body and, together with this delicate food, I hear a sweet and soft voice like the harmonious echoes of the angels of heaven. This a the voice that guides me, that loosens the sails of the ship of my soul. And in my pains, in my temptations, He is my Consoler, He is my Captain.

My life begins anew each morning and ends each evening; beyond that I have no plans or intentions; that is, it may be part of one's daily duties to plan ahead, but one must never worry about the next day.

To remain in prayer without obtaining any advantage is not lost time, but a season of great gain, because then we labor without interest, and only for the glory of God. And though at first it may seem as if we labored in vain, it is not so; but it is like what happens to sons who work on their father's estate, and who, though at night they receive not wages for the day's work, yet at the end of the year they receive everything.

God highly esteems these works...done for him in aridity and hardship, for by such means the virtues and gifts are acquired in a high degree. Those acquired through this labor are for the most part more select, refined, and stable than if they were obtained with spiritual relish and enjoyment, for virtue takes root in dryness, difficulty, and labor, as God says to St. Paul: Virtue is made prefect in weakness.

...You (Jesus) crown the intense desire to do a work, where there is no possibility of doing it, more than a work done without the desire. And if Your work will not be accomplished, it will not be for this reason, that is not Your will, but because there is not the proper disposition in creatures, or generous hearts to do it, as would be necessary...

God is more pleased by one work, however small, done secretly, without desire that it be known, than a thousand done with desire that men know of them. The person who works for God with purest love not only cares nothing about whether men see him, but does not even seek that God Himself know of them.

"To watch in prayer"- this is to say the same thing that Elijah said with the words, "to stand before the face of God." Prayer is looking up into the face of the Eternal. We can do this only when the spirit is awake in its inmost depths, freed from all earthly occupations and pleasures that benumb it. Being awake in body does not guarantee this consciousness, nor does rest required by nature interfere.

Those who work for God with purest love not only care nothing about whether others see their works, but do not even seek that God himself know of them. Such persons would not cease to render God the same services, with the same joy and purity of love, even if God were never to know of these.

The devil through very small things drills holes through which very large things enter.

I am not disturbed at seeing myself weakness itself. On the contrary it is in my weakness that I glory, and I expect each day to discover new imperfections in myself.

Do as perfectly as you can the tasks of your everyday life, even the most trivial. It is quite simple. Follow Our Lord like a little child. I skip after him as best I can. I put my trust in him and abandon all care.

When one gives his time to God, he finds time to accomplish all his duties.